WILDOMAR: Man critically injured in stabbing, suspect at large

Deputies were searching Friday, June 21, for a man suspected in a stabbing in Wildomar – the same man who was shot by deputies after a lengthy standoff last year, authorities said.

Richard Mount Jr., 54, was charged in December with assault and other felonies after he was shot and had been free on $25,000 bond, court records show.

The 53-year-old victim of Thursday’s stabbing had been named as the assault victim in that December incident, Riverside County sheriff’s officials said.

About noon Friday, the victim called on a cell phone from the area of Cottonwood Canyon and Manzanita roads reporting that he had been stabbed, said Deputy Albert Martinez, a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The 53-year-old and Mount had crossed paths while driving on Cottonwood Canyon Road and they had apparently stopped and were speaking with each other, said Sgt. Marc Cloutier. Mount stabbed the victim about nine times, including in the chest and the arm, he said.

The victim drove away but didn’t get far before driving off the road because of his injuries, Cloutier said. A passerby stopped to render first aid until paramedics arrived.

The victim was able to identify Mount to authorities as the person who stabbed him.

He was taken to a hospital with critical injuries but was expected to survive, Cloutier said.

In December, Mount was shot after a standoff at his home on Mercer Lane in Wildomar.

Sheriff’s officials said at the time that a man – the same man who was stabbed on Friday – had driven up to the house to drop off his teenage son with the boy’s mother and was greeted by gunfire. They drove away and called 911, and deputies swarmed the neighborhood.